


Our Song

by lildemonlili



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22223176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lildemonlili/pseuds/lildemonlili
Summary: Prequel to “The Island of Misfit Toys”, featuring Nayeon and Jihyo’s first date~
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Park Jisoo | Jihyo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 164





	Our Song

**Author's Note:**

> For Ash, I love you beyond words

Some people would probably say that it’s quite a long way from calling someone an idiot on a parking lot to asking that idiot out. But Jihyo had come to realize that it wasn’t actually a long way at all. In fact, it only took three weeks. One day for Nayeon to use the number Jihyo had given her. A week for her to start dropping by the youth centre with the excuse of picking Chaeyoung up. Two weeks for her to stop excusing her frequent appearances and started Nayeon walking Jihyo home. And three weeks for her to stall in front of Jihyo’s house with no real excuse and repeated sighs as if trying to get herself together.

It seemed to be a thing with Nayeon; building up every little step, as if there was opposing forces in her - as if someone was hitting the brake and the speeder at the same time. And sure, in all this, Jihyo could’ve just taken the ball and asked Nayeon out. Because she wanted to. From the first night at the group session Jihyo had wanted to ask her out, to kiss her, to see what made her tick. Absolute and immediate attraction. But in the day that Jihyo had spent waiting for Nayeon to text, it had already become a game. An game against herself on how long Jihyo could manage to let Nayeon have control. Because control was something Jihyo was used to. It was forced on her. Was demanded of her. Was necessary. And just that single day of not being in control had woken something in Jihyo. And Nayeon’s obvious interest just kept breathing life into the curiosity. How far could she let herself lose control with Nayeon? How much was she able to let Nayeon decide?

“So… are you allowed to talk about what goes on when you counsel people at the youth centre?” Nayeon asked, eyes on her shoes and the subject completely unrelated to anything. Then she pocketed her hands.

Jihyo wanted to tell her to stop that and hold Jihyo’s hand instead. They had been standing at least five minutes outside Jihyo’s house now, and this was the furthest they had strayed from the subject so far. Jihyo couldn’t deny the growing impatience. If she could just nudge the conversation back on track..

“Nope.” Jihyo said. “Well I can’t disclose private or sensitive information. But I’m allowed to tell ‘oh we got this new kid’ or ‘the coffee was cold again’ but not what happens to the ones who use the centre.”

Nayeon’s lips twitched and she looked up at Jihyo. “Is the coffee cold often?”

“No but today it was.” Jihyo shook her head with a little grin. “I forgot I had it on my desk and not in my hand before I went into a session.”

“How do you not notice that you’re not carrying it?” Nayeon asked with a slight air of disbelief.

Jihyo sent Nayeon a little glare but not too long. Just enough to make Nayeon grin and shake her head.

“You’re really something else.”

“So I’ve heard.” Jihyo smirked. “I’m glad you think so too.” 

This would be a good angle right? This would be bait. Would be something.

“So, any plans tonight?”

Tonight? What was she thinking? It was so late.

“Uh, none, really.” Jihyo said with a shrug. She wished they stood closer. Wished they were further from the house that she wouldn’t risk Jihyo’s parents seeing them through the windows. “I’m just going back to relax and probably going to tuck in my sister. She doesn’t really sleep until I get home.”

“How old is she?” Nayeon asked.

Okay so not bait enough then. Jihyo would have to think of a different strategy.

“Twelve. But she still loves it when I talk her to sleep.”

“You don’t sing to her?” Nayeon wondered. 

Jihyo bit her lip. Shrugged. Then sent Nayeon a smile. But the moment the sadness threatened to bury in her eyes, something in Nayeon’s expression changed. As if she sensed it. As if she sensed Jihyo’s mourning.

“Do you want to go out some time?”

Nayeon’s words made Jihyo frown as if she hadn’t really heard them. Even if she had both heard them and longed for them. She just hadn’t expected it out of the blue.

“Sorry?”

“I- no it’s okay nevermind I- It was nothing...” Nayeon pressed her lips together. Then shook her head and looked unwaveringly at Jihyo. “No, you know it was something. I was asking you out.”

Jihyo couldn’t help but fall unstoppably for Nayeon in that moment. “Yeah okay.”

Nayeon beamed. And it wasn’t just a regular smile. It was absolutely the most adorable thing Jihyo had ever seen. With her lips splitting so wide and her eyes turning crescent, crickling at the edges, and her nose scrunching ever so lightly. And then the moment was gone. Nayeon composed herself, cheeks pinking slightly, and she buried her hands even deeper into her pockets.

“Good.” Nayeon cleared her throat. “I’ll- uh, friday?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jihyo tried not to seem too amused by Nayeon’s obvious demeanor. “Friday sounds good. I have school until five but after that.”

“Okay, I’ll pick you up… here?” Nayeon frowned. “Or at the school?”

“Depends what you want to do.” Jihyo raised an eyebrow. The effect was immediate. Nayeon took a step back and looked very decidedly at the sky. Jihyo chuckled and reached for the front of Nayeon’s jacket, tugging her closer again. 

Nayeon complied.

“Here then. Seven?”

“Sure. Gives me time to shower and fancy myself for my date.” Jihyo said the last part poshly, batting her eyes at Nayeon, hand still holding onto Nayeon’s jacket. She didn’t seem to mind. She just shook her head and looked down at her shoes, treading back on her heels for a moment before finding Jihyo’s eyes again. Then her lips. And then her eyes again.

“Friday then.” Nayeon said decidedly.

“Friday.” Jihyo agreed. How she wished they weren’t right in front of Jihyo’s house. How she wished they were three blocks away in some alleyway where Jihyo dared tug harder at Nayeon’s jacket. But she just let go, nodded once and turned around. One final time she looked over her shoulder just to see Nayeon still standing there, exactly where Jihyo had left her.

…

So the thing where Jihyo thought three weeks wasn’t a very long time? Yeah, suddenly three days seemed like way more than that. Because three days was the amount of days she had to wait for the date. And with that came three days of not having a single clue what the plans were. Nayeon kept hinting at her to wear layers and not too fancy, and Jihyo was at some point halfway sure they were going on a hike, until Jihyo remembered that hiking on a friday night in October wasn’t necessarily the cleverest move ever. Still, Nayeon gave nothing away. And it was getting absolutely infuriating at this point. But Jihyo couldn’t let herself lose the game of patience. So she sat on her hands the entire time until finally, finally Nayeon came walking down the road towards Jihyo’s house that friday night.

“You’re early.” Jihyo crossed her arms just to keep from wrapping her arms around Nayeon. If she did that she might never let go, and she wouldn’t ever find out why the heck Nayeon had been so smug the past days.

“Oh,” Nayeon stopped just out of reach, a sly grin on her face. “well I can turn around and c-”

“Don’t you dare.” Jihyo growled.

Nayeon chuckled heartily and nodded in the direction of the center of city. “Let’s go then.”

Jihyo stared at her for a moment. “You’re still not going to tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope.” Nayeon beamed. But then she held out her hand, and every intent to further the conversation was lost on Jihyo. She gave in and uncrossed her arms, stepping towards Nayeon, looking back at the house for a moment before taking the outstretched hand.

They walked away together.

Nothing Jihyo had ever experienced felt as much like freedom as this did. To walk into the unknown with Nayeon’s hand in hers had to be some sort of heaven, with their fingers fitting in the spaces of each others’ and the smell of Nayeon’s perfume mixing with the cool air. 

“You know, this is kind of a celebration for me.” Nayeon said.

“How so?” Jihyo asked. “I mean other than getting to go on a date with a catch like me.”

Nayeon gave a single laugh. “You really think highly of yourself. I mean you’re not wrong, but still you have confidence. I like it.”

“Well someone has to believe in me, right?” Jihyo asked. She had learned over time that if anyone was going to do just that, it would have to be herself. So she did that. She believed in herself, and pretty much no-one else.

“True.” Nayeon nudged her lightly. Then turned back to the original subject. “Well it’s the end of my first week at work actually. I got a temp job recently to help pay the rent. And this is the end of my first week.”

“Well congratulations then.” Jihyo said genuinely. “I’m proud of you. I guess tonight is a good reward then.”

Nayeon looked straight ahead at the road, but her lips twitched and she nodded a little to herself. “Yeah, you are.”

Jihyo couldn’t help the way her heart looped. Nor did she want to help it. So she just let Nayeon flirt the entire way to the subway, retorting and joking and pushing back without ever taking control. And Jihyo couldn’t help but feel more at home on a subway seat next to Nayeon, the older shamelessly picking at the seam on the outside of Jihyo’s jeans, halfway down her thigh just where Nayeon’s hand naturally reached between the two of them anyway.

“You could be less obvious, you know that right?” Jihyo asked, leaning a little closer. The words had really just been an excuse to do so.

“Oh I know. But why bother? You got me figured out anyways.” Nayeon shrugged. But in the moment Jihyo wondered if maybe Nayeon hadn’t ever heard of the term nerves or shyness, Nayeon’s expression changed, and she retracted her hand. “Do you mind?”

Jihyo frowned. Then shook her head. “In no way.”

“Good. I just want tonight to be perfect. Even if that man smells like he hasn’t showered in a week.” Nayeon whispered the last part, lips so close to Jihyo’s ear that she felt the breath puff onto the shell, the giggle in her voice making Jihyo’s world spin.

How this girl had gotten under her skin as if she was simply made for that purpose, Jihyo might never figure out. But she trusted Nayeon to explain some day.

“It’s us next stop.” Nayeon drew back, looking up as the train went into motion after stopping at Sinchon.

“Hongdae?” Jihyo raised an eyebrow. So dinner or drinks or maybe the arcade? Definitely not a hike. 

“Correct.” Nayeon grinned. Then she drew out her phone and checked the time. But just as she was about to pocket it, Jihyo put a hand on her wrist, looking at the lock screen.

“Is that all of you?”

“Huh?”

“You, Chaeyoung and your two other sisters?” Jihyo specified looking at the picture. It was a few years old judging by the length of Chaeyoung’s hair and Nayeon’s high school uniform. Jihyo recognized only those two, but assumed the other two to be Dahyun and Tzuyu whom both Chaeyoung and Nayeon had mentioned.

“Oh, yeah. That’s Tzuyu, the tall one. And Dahyun is the one with the really wide smile.”

“They’re cute. She’s really tall, Tzuyu. Taller than I imagined.” Jihyo hummed, staring at the picture even as the phone turned to black and Nayeon turned it back on. The train halted. “Wait, isn’t this our station now?”

“Oh shit, yeah.” Nayeon got up immediately, reaching for Jihyo and dragging her out of the train and through the heavy crowd of the main station to one of the biggest nightlife districts of the entire town.

“You know what, Im? You sure know how to pick a setting.” Jihyo breathed, stopping a little way from the entrance to the subway, taking in the colors around her. Everywhere, lights and signs and lanterns bathed the street and its people in shades of red and yellow like a sunset, shades of bright blue like stars in the night sky flown to earth just for them. And the talk buzzed in Jihyo’s ears, and her skin prickled with curiosity and excitement as she fumbled blindly for Nayeon’s hand once more. It was cold.

“Whereto?” Jihyo asked.

“This way. You haven’t eaten yet, right?” Nayeon looked at her, leading them down one of the main streets, through the crowds.

“Nope.” Jihyo said, leaving unsaid that she had been too nervous to eat even if she had wanted to. Not that she had. She wasn’t going to spoil her appetite when getting asked out on a friday night like this.

“Well I have plans for us in about thirty minutes so I suggest we get something off the streets, if that’s not too shabby for you.”

“Oh not at all.” Jihyo promised, wondering momentarily what exactly Nayeon had planned if not food.

“Good.” Nayeon’s voice was audibly relieved, and Jihyo gave her hand a little squeeze. It garnered a chuckle, that made Jihyo think maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to believe in someone else for once. 

“What are you in the mood for?” Nayeon asked, looking around the place. Something about the whole situation made Jihyo want to see how much of a reaction she could get if she leaned in and told Nayeon, _you_. But she didn’t. Instead she just shrugged and nodded towards a stand selling tteokbokki, a suggestion Nayeon quickly agreed to. But as soon as the thought had struck once, Jihyo had to physically restrain herself from flirting too much. Not that she didn’t flirt. She just had to stop herself sometimes. Maybe because the game told her it would be cheating. Or maybe because the adrenaline in her body from the presence of Nayeon wasn’t just giving her the feeling of flying, but also the feeling of fear. She was coming to fear just how much she liked this girl, this three weeks ago stranger who had come to be everything Jihyo could think about.

She was diving headfirst, and had no clue how to stop. 

Not until she stopped fully.

“Noraebang?” Jihyo whispered as they came to a halt in front of the stairs leading up to the floors above a restaurant, inviting people to come sing their hearts out to their favorite songs.

“I… Yeah.” Nayeon had sensed it immediately; the way Jihyo froze. “You okay?”

What was Jihyo supposed to say? Was she supposed to stand out there outside of the this building on the first date with a girl she had waited for to even ask her out, and say no? Explain to her all about her past and why she hadn’t opened her mouth to sing in two years? But was she going to sing? She couldn’t very well just go up there and not sing. But could she even sing? Even if she wanted to? Something in her had the urge to do it, but she also really wanted to run away.

“Jihyo?”

“No, I’m good, I’m fine.” Jihyo lied. Of course, lying wasn’t really a good thing to do on a first date, but it was really a conversation that would take more than just an hour in a noraebang room.

“You sure?”

“Definitely.” Jihyo nodded. Another lie. 

…

The room was small and dark, lit only by purple and red lamps and a single disco light almost solemnly turning in the silence. A big monitor hung on one wall and a couch stretched along one wall and around one of the corners. A table stood in the middle, and on it lay a machine and two microphones. It was an absolutely ordinary and completely terrifying room.

“Do you want drinks?” Nayeon asked, putting her coat down on the couch.

Jihyo nodded. “Yeah. That’d be good.”

“Soju?” Nayeon asked.

“Lemon soju, and maybe a coke? I can’t come home absolutely wasted.” Jihyo scrunched her nose, heart beating out of her chest.

“Sure.” Nayeon walked past her. Jihyo wished she had stayed. Wished she had wrapped her arms around Jihyo and kept her safe from this place. But Nayeon was out and Jihyo stood alone in the room, staring at the microphone.

It wasn’t a conscious decision to walk over to it. But it was a war to reach out and touch it. It hurt just to think about holding it. To think about opening her mouth and sing out her heart that had been so safely locked up for the past two years. 

“You won’t betray me, right?” Jihyo asked quietly, finally stroking over surface.

The microphone didn’t answer. But the cold of the metal was so inviting, that Jihyo couldn’t help but lock her hand around it.

“They didn’t have lemon, so I got you grapefruit. I hope that’s okay.” Nayeon’s voice made Jihyo almost drop the microphone. But she managed to hold on, turning to face her date as she stood with two cokes and two sojus.

“That’s fine. I like both.” Jihyo said.

Nayeon smiled. And something about the way she smiled made the whole room a little brighter, with the disco lights hitting her face and the red lights making her hair and skin glow. 

“So, I was going to ask what you like to sing, but you said you don’t really sing…”

Jihyo bit her lip. She wanted to interject. Was scared that one of the songs would be a song she had performed for evaluations or used for projects. She feared the songs that took her back to the practice room. Not because she feared it. But because she missed it.

“Any song you want.” Jihyo said. What else was she supposed to say? She didn’t want to scare Nayeon. But she also wanted to trust her. But how do you trust someone you hardly know? After all, Nayeon couldn’t have known what kind of relationship Jihyo had to this, she didn’t know that she had brought Jihyo into her own personal lion’s den. Nor did she know that Jihyo was a lioness amongst them.

“Do you mind idol groups?” Nayeon asked, opening her soju and pouring some into a glass.

Yes.

“Not at all.” Jihyo wished it was true.

“Okay then.” Nayeon turned on the machine and picked up the other microphone. Then she put it down again.

“You’re really not going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Jihyo asked.

“You’re holding that microphone like you know exactly how, yet you don’t sing, and you’ve been looking like I’m the hunter from bambi ever since we reached this place.”

Jihyo swallowed. Looked down at her shoes. How was she ever going to explain? Really, there was only one way.

“Can you put on Sistar’s I Like It?” Jihyo asked.

She might as well be fourteen.

A look of wonder passed over Nayeon but she nodded and found it. The screen changed from title selection to play the music video. But Jihyo didn’t see it. The moment the first note had struck, she closed her eyes and took the deepest breath. And everything she saw was all the nights she had spent in vain, crying as she tried one more time, one more time one more time. 

The words came as easily as the breath of a man deprived of air for longer than ever justifiable. As if the song had always rested on her tongue, in her lungs, in her stomach. And every muscle in her core tightened as she sang, tapping the rhythm on her thigh and picking at the seam on the outside, as Nayeon had, when no song played. She didn’t dare look at Nayeon. Didn’t dare face what she had exposed. 

Nayeon, however, made no demands. 

Maybe that’s why Jihyo almost choked on her own tongue at the last chorus when a voice joined in with her own; a voice undoubtedly untrained but as wonderful as anything Jihyo had ever heard. Nayeon’s voice. Strong and wide ranging and powerful beyond what Jihyo could have imagined. And as she opened her eyes she found Nayeon’s eyes shining and a shy smile playing on her face.

And there was a full ten seconds where Jihyo just waited for the song to end. Waited for something to happen. Waited for the fairy tale end to show up in the form of some grand gesture. But it came in the form of the smallest words in the silence after the song ended.

“I didn’t think you should have to end the song alone.” Nayeon shrugged.

“I quit being a trainee two years ago… three months before I was set to debut.” Jihyo answered as if that was the most natural response to a sentence like that. “I haven’t sung since then.”

Nayeon’s expression was downright unreadable for a moment. “Do you still like it?”

“So much.” Jihyo breathed. “I missed it so much.”

Nayeon’s eyes glinted. Then she smiled. “Want to sing another one, then?”

In one, two, three short sentences, all the drama, all the fear and all the hurt had been completely deflated and set aside for a burst of butterflies.

Whomever Nayeon was, whomever she was going to be in the future, one thing was for damn sure. She was here to stay. Jihyo trusted that. She didn’t even have to make sure. She just knew. Just as she somehow knew that Nayeon would laugh and cheer at Jihyo’s next choice of song and how she knew Nayeon was going to dance with her through the night.

…

If there was ever a time where Jihyo felt completely swept off her feet, this was it. She was hoarse, dizzy and hot, out of breath and elated beyond compare, emerging from the noraebang place with her jacket under her arm and a laughing Nayeon trailing after her.

“That was insane!” Nayeon yelled a little too loudly. “I can’t believe they just gave us the last half hour for free.”

Jihyo chuckled, letting Nayeon catch up and snuggled closer immediately when Nayeon wrapped her arm around Jihyo’s.

“I hope you know this was only for you.” Jihyo said, following Nayeon towards the subways. They were going home.

“As much as I think you’re robbing the world I also can’t help but feel just a little smug that it’s all mine.” Nayeon said happily.

“When are you ever not smug though.” Jihyo snorted.

“Well you make it so easy.” Nayeon shrugged. 

Jihyo nudged her and shook her head, seeing the subway stairs up ahead. “And here I was about to say it’s not the only part of me that’s yours but now you can just forget about it.”

Nayeon stopped dead. Jihyo did too, a natural result of them being linked together so closely.

“What?”

“Do the math, Im Nayeon.” Jihyo said exasperatedly, trying not to show how amused she was at being able to fluster Nayeon like this. “We’re on a date. I haven’t yet called you out for how incredibly slow you were at asking me out. And I sang for you.”

For a moment Nayeon just stood there. It didn’t look like she was trying to piece it all together. She definitely already knew. Honestly, it seemed more like she was trying to come up with some clever retort. Slowly she licked her lips and looked around. Then huffed and built up a smirk.

“I’m really that good, huh?”

Jihyo gaped and laughed. “You’re so full of yourself.”

“Well, it’s like you said. Confidence. Someone has to believe in my ability to score a babe like you. And since no-one else in the world ever would, I guess that’s my job.”

Another laugh escaped Jihyo, and she felt the butterflies in every single vein. “You certainly do a good job at believing in it.”

“Don’t I have reason to?” Nayeon shrugged, once more heading towards the stairs to the subway.

“I thought I already told you.” Jihyo tutted, walking down the stairs. “It’s not just my voice that’s yours.”

The shy giggle that rolled from Nayeon’s lips all the way down the stairs was worth every single word. Every single song. It felt so safe with her. As if she could be anyone she wanted with Nayeon, because there was no-one asking her to be someone else. Nayeon never wanted her to be more than exactly who she was.

And maybe that’s what made Jihyo want to be more. In the train seat late one friday night Jihyo found a dream. To be more than who she was now; but not for Nayeon. For herself. Because she knew now that she could be more.

“Thank you…” Jihyo mumbled, feeling herself coming down from the high ever so slowly.

“For what?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Jihyo gave a single dry chuckle. “Everything, I think.”

Nayeon didn’t give a cocky response to this. She didn’t respond at all. Just started picking at the outside seam of Jihyo’s jeans again. 

Jihyo let her; let her sit there for the entire train ride just silently fading back into the normal world as the train rumbled under the town, towards the end of a night that Jihyo already knew then would come to change her life. 

The train ride was both too fast and too slow. There were too many people and too much light and the hour was too late and the date was almost over. And now they were so close and Nayeon had looked at her so many times tonight as if- as if...

“Do you always have cold hands?” Nayeon asked curiously, her hand in Jihyo’s and her other in her pocket.

Jihyo wanted Nayeon to hold her with both hands. Hold her waist, her face, her arms. 

Hold her.

“Cold feet too.” Jihyo grinned. “Ironic, I know.”

“Well that’s going to be a hassle. I guess I’ll have to get you warm socks for when you sleep over.” Nayeon raised a brow at her.

Jihyo choked on air but cleared her throat and nudged a now very much laughing Nayeon. Jihyo was really reaching her limit. She was losing the game. But the thing was that Nayeon didn’t seem to have figured out that if she didn’t do something soon, their chance would be up. They’d be at Jihyo’s place soon and then it would be too late. They were running out of shadow. Running out of hiding places. And Jihyo saw them standing in every single dark space. But they weren’t. They were just walked under the street lights.

“See you say that, but you’re all talk.” Jihyo finally pushed. She had to do something.

Nayeon bit her lip. Shrugged.

Oh for-

Jihyo stopped. Looked around the empty street and found a spot right between two street lights, hidden from curious eyes. In five strides she had pulled Nayeon there.

“Wh-”

But Jihyo didn’t give her a chance to ask what was going on. She couldn’t stand it for another moment. To hell with games and control. This was neither. This was longing and love and desire. This was the deafening need to feel Nayeon closer.

A single tug Nayeon’s jacket, a hand behind her neck and a small (tiny, miniscule really) bit of tiptoeing was all it took for Jihyo to reach Nayeon’s lips, catching one between both of hers and feeling immediate pressure back.

It was by far the most intoxicating thing Jihyo had ever felt; kissing Nayeon. Feeling Nayeon’s arm on her back, on her waist, pulling her closer, and the way Nayeon’s lips moved desperately against Jihyo’s until she was so out of breath she had to pull back, chest rising and falling even if only allowing a few breaths before leaning in again, making Jihyo yelp and laugh at the way Nayeon caught her halfway through an inhale. But they didn’t care. In the darkness on the sidewalk, there was nothing but them and the magic of their breathlessness. 

“You better buy me those warm socks.” Jihyo breathed as she drew back.

“Getting cold feet already? I’m shocked. I thought I was a better kisser than that.” Nayeon raised an eyebrow, that damn smirk on her face again.

Jihyo glared. Reached up and kissed Nayeon one last time that night. “I’m not going to compliment you, or I’ll never get your ego back down to earth.”

“After tonight? I think the damage is already done.” Nayeon reached up to brush Jihyo’s bangs out of her eyes, the gentle motions such a contrast to her expression, and her words adding yet another dimension to an already impossible girl. 

“I’ll always live high on being yours.”


End file.
